2013, year of fiscal 'difficulty,' poll says

Half of all Americans, including nearly three-quarters of Republicans and 55 percent of independents, believe the United States’ best days are behind us, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The finding from Gallup fits in with other recent data showing Republicans in a gloomy, pessimistic mood after an election that saw President Barack Obama return for four more years in office and Democrats maintain control of the Senate.

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Exactly 50 percent of Americans believe the country’s best days are in the past, while 47 percent believe the best days are yet to come. Only 24 percent of GOP voters and 43 percent of independents believe the best days are still ahead, while 69 percent of Democrats think so. A mere 28 percent of Democrats think our best days are in the past.

In the more immediate future, 65 percent of the country expects 2013 to be a year of “economic difficulty,” despite majorities anticipating increasing employment and “reasonable” increases in prices over the next year. Economists generally expect continued growth in 2013.

A full 82 percent of Americans expect taxes to rise in the new year — and with the expiration of the payroll tax holiday and increases on high earners in the fiscal cliff deal, they’re right — and 85 percent believe the country will continue to run a budget deficit.

On the international front, three-quarters anticipate a “troubled year” with more international discord, even as American troops plan to start withdrawing from Afghanistan. Fifty-seven percent also predict American power will decline in 2013.

And 68 percent of Americans expect crime to rise in 2013, which would break a patten of several years of drops in crime.

The poll of 1,025 adults was conducted from Dec. 14 to Dec. 17. It has a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.